


The Morning After the Night Before

by AlgernonInWonderland



Category: Deltarune (Video Game)
Genre: Awkward Romance, Cooking, Fluff, Friendship, Gender-Neutral Kris (Deltarune), Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Multi, Silly teenagers antics, The Sadie Hawkman Dance, Tier 2 Swear Words
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-12-25 12:17:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18261125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlgernonInWonderland/pseuds/AlgernonInWonderland
Summary: In which Susie wakes up in a room she's never seen before, Noelle  tries to play it cool and Kris is… Kris.Now with a small song to go with it!





	The Morning After the Night Before

**Author's Note:**

> A little something I composed, a very short thing but it goes quite well with it: click [here](https://soundcloud.com/user-964758381/noelles-room-on-rainy-days) to listen to it!

Should she open her eyes? She’s awake now, with a mild headache but nothing she can’t handle, so there’s no use for her to lie down any longer. Right? Nah. The bed is comfy, she feels warm and safe there. She can’t even hear the radio playing in the kitchen, always too loud, or mom and dad yelling or any of the usual noise that wake her up, It’s a nice change. 

 

Wait. What?

 

That’s definitely not her bed. The mattress is too soft, the bedsheets feel like they have been washed recently. She’s not in mom and dad’s house, is she? Her heart sinks in her ribcage. She’s relieved. And scared at the implication. Everything’s muddled. She should have slept in a little longer, maybe she wouldn’t be so panicked. But she’s awake in a bed that’s not hers, and she’s someplace she doesn’t know.

 

Slowly, Susie’s eyes open. That’s an unfamiliar ceiling. And an unfamiliar bed. And an unfamiliar room. Somehow, it doesn’t feel menacing. There’s no source of light in the room and the blinds are closed, but sunlight filters through them. The door can only block so much light, some people in that house must be awake. She won’t switch on the light for now, even though she could reach for the lamp on the bedstead if she tried. 

 

Besides, her night vision is decent, she’s been to darker places before. 

 

It’s a nice, tidy room, she spots a few posters of exhibitions, the painting of a fireplace and one of a human and monster metal band on the cream-coloured walls. There is a red and green carpet in the middle of the parquet, with snowflakes stitched on it. It’s a nice room, it must be a nice place to live in, much better than her own, much bigger than her own too. 

 

She stretches out and gets out of the comfy bed. She doesn’t remember having bought the overly large sweatshirt she’s wearing. It probably isn’t hers at all… Nope, it’s not. She looks left and right again and tries to ignore her headache. She finds an empty bucket at the foot of the bed. Wait, what? Is she sick? Was she sick? She tries to not think about it too much for now. And her headache is still very much here.

 

The room has nice furniture, way nicer than her own, obviously. Nice wooden shelves with plenty of books, a shapeless but soft-looking pouffe and a very neat-looking desk. On it, some notebooks and a computer. On closer inspection, that appears to be a gaming computer, but she doesn’t want to pry. 

 

There is a pot filled with multicoloured pencils; though she can’t really make out the shades, she can tell that there is a variety of them, some seem to be themed pencils, if that’s even a thing. It’s all very cute and neat and well-ordered, perhaps too well-ordered. This all feels familiar somehow.… 

 

Wait, is this…

… Noelle room? 

Oh  $!$!, oh  $!$!, oh  $!$!

Is she in Noelle $!$!ing Holiday’s house?

Oh,  $!$!, it is Noelle’s room, in Noelle’s house.

$!$!$!$!$!$!$!$!$!$!$!$!$!$!

 

If she opens the wardrobe she’ll find a bajillion sweaters there, she’s sure of that. She takes an hesitant step and — Ouch. Her headache isn’t getting any better. She still can’t remember getting there in the first place. And now there are voices in the corridor, they’re almost too far for Susie to hear, but not quite. She can’t tell what these people are telling, but it doesn’t sound like an argument at all. And then silence, and then the sound of someone walking in the direction of the room. 

 

Susie freezes. She can’t run away, she doesn’t even have her regular clothes on, or shoes, or anything. There’s no escaping this, all resistance is futile. She’s stuck. And screwed, probably.At least she should switch on the light no make it seem like she just woke up, she could mess up her hair even more… The doorknob turns before she can do any of that.

 

“Is everything alright? I mean, h-hey, Susie! So…”

 

It’s Noelle, and even in the dark, Susie can tell that she’s concerned about… Her? Her bleary eyes widen a little. What happened last night? Why the $!$! is she in that room? Why is she only wearing that sweater that’s not even hers? Susie can’t focus on Noelle’s words and watches her ramble. She’s sorta cute when she does that.

 

“… tylenol if your headache still bothers you, and I cleaned your clothes, also there’s a clean towel ready in the bathroom and we made breakfast downstairs, I mean, I know it’s almost time for lunch but… Well tell me if you need anything!” Noelle finishes, blushing. 

 

Susie tries to process all of that. Her headache doesn’t make it an easy task. Bathroom and then breakfast, is it? She wants to tell the other girl something, anything, she wants to thank her but she’s at loss for words. And why is Noelle blushing? She can feel her own face heating up a little. It doesn’t make sense. 

 

But she needs to say something, still, maybe something in the lines of “Well, it’s very nice of you, thank you for all of that, I’ll go to the bathroom now” would be good. Yeah, she’s going to say that. So, of course, it comes out of her mouth as “I… Thanks…” instead. 

 

“You don’t have to thank me for anything, it’s completely normal! You should go… get dressed yes, you should do that.”

 

“Yeah, I’m gonna… Do that, yeah. Ah… See ya downstairs!”

 

Susie waits for Noelle to leave to rush to the bathroom and only then does her heartbeat slow down a little. Wow, that place is bigger than her room, no that it surprises her that much. A lot of places are way bigger than her room. Here are her clothes and the towel the nerd has mentioned. 

 

Not only is the place big but it’s absolutely pristine, with its spotless light green tiled floor. Small succulent plants are neatly lined up against the windowpane. She doesn’t bother looking at her reflection in the mirror, she must look like hell anyway. Instead, she heads straight to the shower — the bathtub is big and welcoming, the water will be very hot, she’s sure of that, still, she doesn’t want to fall asleep again, especially not here. 

 

It doesn’t take long for her to clean up, and when she steps out of the shower she is slightly more awake. Her hair is a little tousled but it feels cleaner already. Not only her hair, her entire body, Susie feels… Cleaner, yes, that’s it. Her white button-up shirt has been ironed, her trousers as well. And here’s the tylenol next to that same great mirror. She takes one. 

 

Was that Sadie Hawkman thing yesterday? It has to be, she can’t see any other reason why she’d wear the shirt.

 

$!$!

 

Something must have happened and she’s almost too afraid to ask Noelle what it was. And she knows they’ll have to talk about it at some point. Maybe she could stay in the bathroom for ever and no one would notice. Nah. She hears the sound of the grandfather clock downstairs ringing twelve times -or is it eleven? She can’t stay up here forever.

 

She exits the bathroom, not quite ready for what’s waiting for her downstairs. She knows she has faced life-threatening foes, but it does nothing to soothe the stress that is building up in her empty stomach. She knows she can’t jump out the window without breaking a few bones, trying to climb down won’t work either, it’s too rainy for that. And what if Noelle’s parents are here? She needs to make a better impression. 

 

Susie goes back to the bathroom and tries to do her hair a little better before she finally walks down the great oak steps. She tries to make as little noise as she can. If she is stealthy enough, she might make it to the door without having this embarrassing conversation in the first place. She can do it. All she needs to do is avoid that conveniently-placed banana peel —

 

But she can’t follow up with her plan, because Noelle has just called her name.

 

And there she is, having tea in the kitchen, she’s not alone either. Her brother - isn’t his name Dess or something?- is here too. He looks like his sister but she’s all cute and slender whereas he’s a good three feet taller than her, with a lighter fur. He’s an athlete and it shows. It must be his sweatshirt that she was wearing before. 

 

Noelle greets Susie with a shy smile, Susie tries to do the same and she awkwardly joins them. Noelle’s brother waves at her with a friendly smile. Kris pops up from behind the counter and Susie thinks she might have seen the hint of a smile on their face as well. Everyone’s trying to make it easy for her, there’s the sound of something simmering in a great pan, it feels almost homely. 

 

Well, that’s already better than having to face Mayor Holiday or Noelle’s father, Susie tells herself. Someone puts a cup of hot cocoa in her hands, she mumbles a small thanks. She has the feeling that they’re all watching her, waiting for her to do something. She doesn’t know what to do about it, so she takes a sip of hot cocoa and can’t help but blurt, “hey, that’s really good!”

 

“You can thank, uh, Kris for that,” Dess answers, and adds for himself “I know, surprise surprise, they’re good at something else than pranks.”

 

Kris shrugs noncommittally, Noelle looks at her brother disapprovingly, Susie doesn’t know what to answer to that, she’s aware of the fact that she can’t punch him even if she really wants to, and the kitchen grows awkwardly silent. 

 

One emptied hot cocoa mug later, Dess’s phone rings and he has to leave in a hurry, because there’s something “very important” he needs to do, he says. Susie is almost sure Kris is laughing to themselves when she hears the sound of something heavy falling, followed by Dess cussing about a “$!$!ing banana peel”. Noelle shakes her head but doesn’t look too mad about it. 

 

The door is slammed shut, Dess’s car drives away and at last Susie loosens her grip on the mug. Noelle seems somewhat less nervous too.

 

“I’m sorry about my brother, you know he’s never been subtle about this sort of things…” she offers apologetically. Kris shrugs again and nibbles on a square of dark chocolate. Susie clears her throat and tries to come up with a question.

 

“So, about last—”

 

But her stomach growls before she can finish her sentence. And Susie doesn’t know what to do about it. She wants to ask a $!$!ing question, not to make herself look like a clown. She can’t punch her way out of this. She can’t even shrug it off or blame it on Kris. Not that they’d care much about that. Noelle blinks, repeatedly, but says nothing. 

 

Instead, she walks to the pantry and comes back with a bag of rice. Kris takes the hint and opens the fridge. They pick some fresh coriander leaves. “I take care of that but I think it’s better if I let you do the rest this time,” they say, though Susie isn’t sure she’s heard them correctly. Noelle hums in agreement, turns on the hotplates and lifts the pan’s lid. She stirs whatever is cooking inside and she seems absolutely focused on that. 

 

“Can I… Like, help with something?” Susie asks. She’s just there, standing around doing nothing while Kris is doing… Whatever Kris thing Kris can do with scissor and coriander leaves, and Noelle is cooking. “Anything?”

 

“No, really, it’s OK! You’re the guest here!” Noelle says, almost too quickly. Whatever’s in this pan must be very interesting, because she doesn’t look at Susie. “We’re having roasted aloo gobi curry, I hope it’s OK… I guess you can rinse the rice if you’d like.”

 

“Yeah, alright…”

 

And so, Susie joins Noelle while Kris watches with a blank expression on their face. She tries to not ruin everything with her claws, she makes sure her gestures are as delicate as she possibly can make them. And Noelle tenses when Susie’s arm accidentally brushes hers, Susie is almost sure the other girl’s shivering

 

_Why is it that she’s so nervous? She’s in her giant mansion, in her kitchen where the pantry is always filled with healthy food. Shouldn’t she feel safe there? Is it cold? Am I that scary? Did I give her the “I’m gonna eat your face” look? Man I’m really hungry, so hungry I could eat a horse._

 

“You can… Put it in the rice cooker here…” Noelle says faintly. Susie does exactly as she’s been told, washes the colander she’s used to rince the rice as carefully as she can once again. From the corner of her eye, she can tell Kris is giving her a small thumbs up. 

 

“So, about what happened yesterday… What… Happened?” Susie tries.

 

“You’ll want to sit down for this one, maybe,” Noelle says. “The food should be ready by the time we’re done talking about it.”

 

A feeling of absolute dread fills Susie’s stomach as she takes a seat while Noelle stirs the curry. She almost wishes she hadn’t asked. She wants to know and she’s afraid to know and now that she’s asked it’s too late for her to backtrack. And boy does she want to unsay that last sentence. But she can’t. And she doesn’t know where she should start. Or maybe she does. 

 

“So, there was that school dance thing, right?” Yes, that seems like a good place to start.

 

“Yes, the Sadie Hawkman dance, we were all here. I’d say it went… OK, for a school dance, nothing too amazing but they played rather calm music and the chaperones didn’t have to screech too much  so… It was nice, really!” Noelle says, almost too politely. 

 

“It was boring is what she’s trying to say, exactly what Toriel would approve of,” Kris comments. “You really didn’t wanna go to that dance so I had to drag you there because Noelle here—”

 

“Anyways!” Noelle cuts in, “we all danced together at some moment or another and it was… Nice, yes. ” She blushes at that. “You’re a pretty good dancer!”

 

“What?” Susie blurts 

 

Holy $!$! But she remembers that faintly, not the details, that part’s still hazy. She remembers Kris asking her to be as polite and nice as she possibly can be without it sounding too forced, so that their mom wouldn’t think of her as a delinquent. It makes sense. So she was probably as polite as she could muster, she guesses. She’s danced with Kris, that’s for sure, they even practiced their salsa moves every other day in an empty classroom because they had asked her to. 

 

That little shit. 

 

It was all part of their plan wasn’t it. Did she dance with… She’s blushing, she knows it, she shouldn’t have any reason for that. “I danced with you?,” she asks, and fails to make it sound casual.

 

“Y-yes! I think Kris sorta shoved you in my way” Noelle says, and she’s almost sure she’s seen Kris smirk and their eyes glint red for a split second. “Well, you saved me from yet another dance with Berdly so…”

 

“Heh, you’re welcome I guess,” Susie says sheepishly. “But it ended around 10PM, right? I think? Or maybe even earlier than that? Something else happened after that, right? I sort of remember something after that. Or did I black out and I only woke up like half an hour ago?”

 

Man that would suck if it was the case, passing out on the school’s lame dance floor — technically the basketball court but who cares— with everyone here to watch her. Well, that just means she’ll have to glare at Berdly a little harder next time she sees him, that’ll do the trick. 

 

“Jockington was in a really good mood so he invited us over,” Kris says, “the entire class and a few older students. His parents weren’t there and he has a pretty big place so…”

 

 “Was that a cool party?” Susie asks.

 

“It was pretty fun,” Noelle nods. “I mean it was until it wasn’t but we’ll talk about it after lunch, the curry’s ready!”

 

“Uh, it’s fair I guess,” Susie humphs. The smell is mouth-watering anyway, her almost-empty stomach is almost screaming anyway. 

 

It takes a few seconds for Kris to set the table — three bowls, one slightly bigger than the others, three spoons, three empty glasses, they seem to know where to find them without having to ask Noelle. The bowls don’t remain empty for long, Susie has to keep herself from devouring her meal right away. She doesn’t want to make a show of herself if she can help it, especially not here.

 

“ _Bon appétit,_ ” Noelle says as she takes a seat opposite. It’s all Susie needs to hear. If she wanted to, she’d swallow the whole thing in a matter of seconds, she’s perfectly able to do that.

 

Still, she makes sure not to be make too much noise when she eats, and not to eat too quickly. It’s completely worth it. The potatoes almost melt in her mouth, and the taste of chillies and coriander seeds is just delicious. Kris seems to share her mind, and the hint of apprehension on Noelle’s face vanishes when Susie gives her a small thumbs up. They eat in a comfortable silence, Susie has another helping of curry; it’s without a doubt the best meal she’s had in weeks, but neither Noelle nor Kris need to know that. That food is just too good.

 

Noelle puts the leftovers in a small box “My mother’s here sometimes but she warns at the last minute so I have to make sure there’s something prepared for her if she wants to eat, she’s too busy to cook,” she explains. Susie doesn’t know what to do with that information. Perhaps she’s still too tired to get everything? Still, her headache is almost gone, she doesn’t feel queasy or filthy. She’s definitely ready to ask about how she got here in the first place. 

 

 

“So that party was cool,” Susie says, to no one in particular.

 

They are now in Noelle’s room, Kris sitting on the pouffe, Noelle on her desk chair and Susie on Noelle’s bed, the light is on and the blinds are wide open, it is a room that feels comfy now that there’s the three of them here. Perhaps it is a little too big for just one person, perhaps a little lonely too when there’s no one but Noelle. The entire house must feel that way, come to think of it. Now, though, it’s alright.

 

"Yeah, it was a pretty cool party,” Noelle says in an incredibly neutral tone, and Kris’s expression shifts from vaguely blank to mildly amused. 

 

“Was it the sort of cool your moms wouldn’t approve of?” Susie asks with a smirk.  $!$!, that would certainly explain why she can’t remember most of the evening, and the headache. “That kind of party, huh?”

 

Noelle and Kris nod in perfect sync, Kris with a a proud smirk while Noelle tries to appear ashamed of herself and fails completely at that. _Why is she so damn cute?_ The thought forms in Susie’s mind before she can stop it. She shifts awkwardly on the bed.

 

“So we were maybe fifteen in the apartment,” Kris says, “I don’t think you knew many of them, I know I didn’t, but it was stil cool.”

 

“We played cards for a little time, it was before one of the older students brought the drinks,” Noelle adds, “you seemed to be having way more fun than when you’re at school, you were in a pretty good mood!”

 

“I… Mostly don’t remember that…” Susie says. “So I guess I was sober then?” She has to ask, even though she’s almost sure she won’t like the answer Kris or Noelle will give her. And when Kris gives her a brief nod, it is enough to confirm what she feared. “Dammit,” she mutters to herself.

 

“Well anyway, Jockington thinks you’re his friend now,” Noelle says with a forced giggle, “he’s pretty fun to be around once you get used to him being… Jockington.”

 

“Huh,” Susie grunts. “So this is the moment when things go bad, like, dramatically bad, right? I’ve seen enough movies to know that. I got wasted and I ruined everything but Jockington is not mad at me for some reason? That kind of bad?”

 

“Not really,” Kris says, and they seem to mean it. “So, you didn’t get into a fight, you didn’t punch anyone, you didn’t slam anyone violently against a wall, no faces were bitten, you didn’t insult anyone in particular so I’d say it didn’t get bad that way. But you did drink a lot. Not used to this much, no?”

 

“Well… No, not used to drinking this much. How much is this much anyway?” Susie is puzzled. “I’m no lightweight but you two seem to be handling your booze way better than me… ”

 

“Well we did try to stop you,” Noelle says with a slight smile. “Not that it really worked in the end. If that makes you feel any better, you didn’t get drunk immediately. Everyone took it slow, well, except for Temmie but we kinda saw it coming.”

 

Susie remembers it, poor little Temmie already drunk after who knows how many glasses of cheap fruit liquor, Monster Kid looking after her, with a distressed look on his face, worse than Temmie herself. Welp, she probably made it home, safely, Susie reflects. She must have had a rough early morning, too. 

 

“…and then Berdly decided it was enough and he went home, and that was when the real fun began” Kris snickers, Noelle pretends to glare daggers at them; it seems that they have been playing that little game for most of their lives and that neither of them seem to mind more than that.

 

“Well, we played ‘Never Have I Ever’ after he left so you’re not entirely wrong,” Noelle says. “But the older kids were cool with us and didn’t force us… I mean we didn’t **have** to drink, so in the end I switched to apple juice and nobody cared too much.”

 

“She drank a lot of water afterwards too,” Kris says, “and so did I. Whew, Toriel would have been so mad if I had come home drunk, I remember that one time when Ozzie… Well never mind. I’m sorry we couldn’t make you drink water, you’d always… You know…”

 

“But that part didn’t happen before 1AM, I think,” Noelle adds quickly when she sees Susie turn a few shades paler. “You were just in a very good mood, that’s how you and Jockington became friends.”

 

“Huh. Nice, I guess,” Susie mumbles. She’s not sure she likes it, but she’s relieved. She didn’t punch anyone, which is good, she didn’t get wasted too early, which is good too. She smiles faintly to herself.

 

The pitter-patter of the rain against the windowpane gets louder and louder; they’re safe in the room. Kris mutters that they’re going downstairs, promising they’ll be back with hot cocoa in no time. The grandfather clock rings twice. Susie shivers a little. Her suit is reasonably fancy but it doesn’t look warm, Noelle notices. That and she’s probably still a little sick.

 

“You can take the plaid blanket, you know,” she whispers, blushing,“it’s OK, I really don’t”.

 

“Thanks, I guess” Susie says, trying to speak low to hide her surprise. Not that it really works. 

 

She looks to the side and wraps herself in the red blanket. It smells like cardamom and Noelle; Susie is warmer already. She’s glad to be here. Her heartbeat speeds up for a few seconds, probably when she feels Noelle’s glance on her, even though she tries to deny it. When Kris comes back with the promised hot cocoa, the two girls are trying their best not to look at each other.

 

“Here you go,” Kris probably means to say as they shrug. Noelle gets her mug, then Kris gives Susie her own before plopping down on the pouffe and somehow manage not to spill their hot cocoa all over themselves.

 

“Man it sucks that I can’t remember most of that ‘Never Have I Ever’ thing,” Susie moans, “Kris you better give me the juiciest ones later.” She freezes and her smile gets strained. “Anything embarrassing you learned about me? Ngah! Cause you better forget it, nerds,”she says in her best impression of Officer Undyne. Yes, that’ll hide how stressed out she is. (It doesn’t, but Kris and Noelle know better than pointing it out.)

 

“Well there wasn’t anything too embarrassing you had to drink to, so I don’t think there’s a lot we need to forget,” Noelle says. “I think most of the people at the party think you’re way cooler now that they know you a little more.”

 

“I mean, sure they were shocked when we were the only ones to drink when Catti said ‘never have I ever eaten moss’ but hey, it’s not like you seemed to care then and honestly the look on their faces was priceless,” Kris says giddily. Their eyes shine brightly when they say so. Susie gets up from the bed, fake punches Kris, they collapse on the pouffe dramatically as she goes back to the bed and wraps herself in the blanket again. It must be the way these two like to have fun, Noelle thinks. They’re weirdoes, but she doesn’t mind that.

 

“So nothing to be worried about, really! Except for that moss thing, I think the people at the party think you’re actually pretty cool. Stealing your parents’ car to learn how to drive? Everyone thought you were the coolest person at the party,” Noelle stumbles on her words. 

 

Susie instantly turns the shade of the plaid blanket at that last bit. How is that even possible? Her heart is racing but she tries to act as though she hasn’t heard anything. And it almost works, but not quite. She sends Kris a distressed look, and conveniently they don’t react, at all. They are high on hot cocoa, if that’s even possible. 

 

“So…” Noelle clears her throat and squares her shoulders a little. “So that was good but then you had a drinking contest with some older student, I can’t remember her name, and you… You won.”

 

Yeah, she doesn’t recall any of that. But it makes sense, that’s exactly the sort of stupid shit she’d do, acting like she’s used to drinking, and drinking a lot. Her metabolism probably helped but considering how much she probably had to drink to… Win… Against someone older than her… 

 

“The next half hour was super weird, you tried to act like everything was alright even though it was clearly not,” Kris says, “we played truth or dare”

 

“Tell me I only chose dares,” Susie says.

 

“Yeah, well we tried to keep it nice, no kisses or anything like that,” Kris says, “but you were looking quite pale after Monster Kid asked you to do a handstand. Yeah, in retrospect that wasn’t a good idea.”

 

“Lemme guess, I got on the balcony and then you had to bring me a bucked or something?” Susie asks, surprisingly calm.

 

“That’s it,” Noelle winces, “it wasn’t awful but you were really sick so… You were there for a good half hour and I stayed with you. And before you say anything, there’s no need to say you’re sorry, I wanted to be here for you, I still do.”

 

Susie looks… Afraid? Pained? A mixture of all of that perhaps. It almost makes her want to run away. Not that she can, especially when she feels Noelle’s glance on her.

 

“We had to get you home but you wouldn’t tell us where that was and I couldn’t find your keys so…” Kris says awkwardly, “well Noelle’s house was closer to Jockington’s than Toriel’s so that’s how you got there. You still managed to put on that pyjamas on your own so…”

 

“Huh huh, that makes sense,” Susie mumbles. She hasn’t processed a single word of what Kris has just said. She takes a sip of now lukewarm cocoa. It helps a little, it gives her time to think. Noelle wants to be here for her. She doesn’t pity her. It doesn’t make any sense but a small part of her is really happy about it. Kris is looking at her with a mix of care and expectation. She needs to say something. And she doesn’t find anything to say. Everything is so… Messy in her head right now.

 

“Susie, is everything alright?” Noelle finally asks.

 

“I… Thanks, really, you two,” Susie says softly, and a lump forms in her throat before she can finish her sentence. She swallows, hard, and tries to calm down. “I really messed up, huh? Noelle I hope you won’t get in trouble for helping me out.”

 

“It’s nothing, besides, it was getting late anyway and I didn’t mind sleeping on the couch this time,” Noelle says, “Mother… She doesn’t know, she’s almost never here and Dess promised he wouldn’t tell her so really, it’s OK.”

 

“Well, thanks anyway,” Susie mumbles.

 

It has stopped raining. It’s a beautiful day outside, bluebirds are singing, the Holidays’ flower bed is shining with water and light. Maybe now is the time to go, Susie thinks to herself, not that she really wants to leave. She gets up, stretches her legs and sits back on the bed again. She could stay there forever with these two, really. 

 

It feels just nice and calm. Until Kris throws a star-shaped pillow at her face, that is. She dodges the pillow and throws it at Noelle who barely catches it. That little game goes on for a little while, it’s silly but amusing nonetheless. 

 

 

Then Noelle’s phone rings, and the girl tries to conceal her nervousness. She excuses herself and walks out of her bedroom. The call doesn’t last for long, it’s mostly Noelle saying “yes” and “of course”. Her face is apologetic when she returns, there’s terror in her eyes, feeling her lungs icy ice, but almost too subtle for Susie to spot.

 

“My mother is going to be there in fifteen minutes or so…” Noelle says, and she looks so small when she says it. “You know how she is… I don’t mean to kick you out but it’d really be better if you just left… I’m sorry…”

 

Kris gets up immediately and Susie understands that Noelle is not making any of this up. Susie carefully puts the plaid blanket back where it used to be, Kris makes sure they haven’t left a trace of cocoa anywhere. The three of them go downstairs with their empty mugs but Noelle says she’ll take care of it when they’re gone.. Kris and Susie put on their shoes, Noelle gives Susie her backpack and her coat as delicately as she can manage, and only her slightly shaky hands betray how stressed out she is by what is to come for her.

 

Noelle opens the door for them. Kris gives her a quick pat on the shoulder and a worried look before they step aside. They walk to the mansion’s great gates, slowly enough so that Susie can have her moment with Noelle once she’s done tying her shoes and then join them. For know, they’ll just give the two girls some privacy. Or so they think. They can’t help but spy on them as Susie finally gets up, and throws her backpack on her shoulder

 

“You text me when you’re home, OK?” 

 

Noelle’s question comes out of nowhere. No one ever asks her that. And it’s not like she lives hours away from here? Susie doesn’t really know what to answer so she nods instead. And now, she has to go. Should she… Just get out of here? Or maybe, just maybe hug Noelle goodb— Wait, what?

 

Before that last thought fully forms in her mind, though, something courses through her soul, something that makes Susie drop her backpack and wrap her arms carefully around the other girl’s shoulders.  

 

“Thanks for everything… You tell me how it went with your mom. You… You take care, yeah? Y-you’re pretty cool.”

 

“O-OK,” Noelle says and her knees feel weak, but there’s a smile in her voice.

 

Susie lets go of her, mumbling a small “I gotta go now, see ya”. She steals one last glance at that lovely nerd, gives her a crooked grin and goes after Kris. She can hear the sound of the door closing behind her, and can’t help but feel a pang a guilt for leaving Noelle like that. She catches up with Kris in a matter of seconds and ruffles their hair.

 

“So you shoved me into her arms so that we’d dance?” she asks teasingly once they’ve crossed the large wrought iron gates. “Real smooth, dude, real smooth.”

 

Kris merely shrugs with a knowing smile on their lips as they walk away from Holiday mansion. The dirt road is almost dry by now, it’s a convenient shortcut they use to make sure they won’t meet the mayor - not that Susie has ever met her. The weather is almost warm enough to stay outside for the rest of the day. Still, after a few minutes, they come to a crossroad and they have to go separate ways. 

 

“Hey, Susie?”

 

“What, nerd?”

 

“Would it be OK if we brought Noelle with us next time?”

 

“Next time? Oh, _next time_. Uh… Yeah, why not! I mean, she’ll probably freak out a little but I think Ralsei’ll like her. Do we really have to go home?”

 

“’Well, I won’t be able to get Toriel off my back if I don’t get home soon so… See you tomorrow in front of my dad’s flower shop?”

 

“Sounds good to me,” Susie says, “sounds good to me.”

 

She takes her time to go home, just to make sure that feeling of warmth doesn’t leave her chest.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!
> 
>  
> 
> I have a Tumblr [here](https://algernoninwonderland.tumblr.com) where I sometimes post things and where you can ask me stuff.
> 
> Oh, and [here](https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/roasted-aloo-gobi)is the aloo gobi recipe, you should try it, it's pretty good! (also I couldn't picture Noelle eating meat without it feeling very wrong so there's that)
> 
> Maybe I'll write some more Deltarune things someday, or maybe not, who knows.
> 
> Either way, I hope you enjoyed this!


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